Rescuers search for survivors in deadly Indonesian landslide
- Search and rescue teams have found 15 dead and are scouring the area for at least 20 missing people according to the national disaster agency
Rescuers recovered six more bodies buried under tonnes of mud from a landslide that crashed onto a hilly village on Indonesia’s main island of Java, bringing the death toll to 15, officials said on Tuesday.
The landslide that plunged down surrounding hills just before sunset on Monday buried 30 houses in Sirnaresmi village in West Java’s Sukabumi district. Sixty people who lost their homes were forced to move to a temporary shelter, said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.
News footage showed relatives wailing as they watched rescuers pull a mud-caked body from a devastated hamlet. It was placed in a blue bag and taken away for burial.
Authorities struggled to bring tractors and other heavy equipment over washed-out roads after torrential rains sent mud and rocks crashing onto the hilly hamlets. Hundreds of police, soldiers and residents dug through the debris with their bare hands, shovels and hoes as heavy rain hindered their efforts.